Hideki Asai is planning on giving himself a buzz cut because it seems to bring him some luck: when he buzzed his hair in 2007, he ended up winning a career high 8 games; when he buzzed his hair in 2008, he set a new career of 9 wins.

He'll be getting his hair buzzed on 1/30/2011 (down to 9mm), the last day before spring camp.

===

Tetsuya Utsumi told reporters on Wednesday that the new NPB regulation ball felt like a cross between the old NPB ball and the WBC ball.  He added that his off-speed pitches with the WBC ball had a lot of movement and that the new ball provided similar results.

Utsumi is also working on improving both his stamina / conditioning and his velocity this winter.

Said Utsumi, "I want win a spot in the starting rotation and stay there the entire season.  I also want to consistently throw in the 140km/h range."

===

Back fully healed from surgery, Yoshinobu Takahashi plans on taking BP from his first day of training in Okinawa (scheduled to start on 1/10/2011).

On Tuesday, Utsumi took part in a TV recording for FujiTV's Uchikuru!? (ウチくる！？).

===

Genki Kawano worked out at Giants Stadium on Wednesday (he's taking part of winter camp) and did some running, took some fielding practice, and worked on his hitting.  Kawano will be joining Shinnosuke Abe and Hayato Sakamoto for training in Guam in January next year.

The winter camp that began on the 12/2 will end on Thursday (12/23).

Hideki Asai got a 10M yen raise on Wednesday (from 30M yen to 40M yen) and was also given a new number: from 68 to 38.

===

Yoshitomo Tani told reporters yesterday that he doesn't plan on agreeing on any terms until he's fully satisfied with the team's offer.  He also added that he doesn't expect negotiations to get drawn out into the new year.  Tani held his first round of negotiations with the team on 12/17 and was apparently given a pay cut of 100M yen.  He placed that offer on hold and will meet the club for a second round of negotiations sometime soon.

===

Shugo Fujii worked out (running) at Giants Stadium on Wednesday.  Fujii told reporters that during this time of the year, it was all about working on conditioning and preparing the body for a full season of pitching.

===

The Giants' program to visit schools during the off-season (The Giants are coming!) kicked off on Tuesday.  Michihiro Ogasawara and Yasunari Takagi visited Taisho Elementary School on the first day.  And yesterday Shinnosuke Abe and Ryuichi Kajimae visited Chiyoda-ku Izumi Elementary School while Testuya Utsumi and Shun Tono dropped by Kochi Ikku Elementary School.

Giants' players will continue to visit schools through to 12/22.

Sanspo mentions that the Giants may start Hideki Asai, Tetsuya Utsumi, and Shugo Fujii during their 3-game series against the Yakult Swallows that begins tomorrow.

While Asai does not have a start against the Swallows yet this season, the other two have.

Utsumi: 4 G, 3 GS, 2-0, 17.2 IP, 3.06 ERA, 1.19 WHIP

Fujii: 3 G, 2 GS, 1-0, 12.1 IP, 2.19 ERA, 0.89 WHIP

Michihiro Ogasawara was taken out of last night's game in the 4th on defense since the team had a 6-run lead.  The Giants don't want to push Ogasawara to hard since his back has been acting up as of late.

==

Alex Ramirez appeared in his 872nd consecutive game last night, putting him in an 11th place tie with Koji Yamamoto on the All-time list.

==

Hideki Asai got the win last night against the Hiroshima Carp.  A somewhat teary-eyed Asai told fans during his Hero Interview that winning the game was like a dream for him and that he put his family through a lot of hardships and that he was glad he could repay them with a win.

It was Asai's first victory since sing 9/17/2008.

==

Seth Greisinger worked out at Giants Stadium earlier today -- he did a number of training exercises, including shadow-pitching, and told reporters he thought he'd be able to make his next start.  Based on the current rotation, that could be the 10th (vs Yakult).

The Giants and Eagles announced that they agreed on a trade that will send 25-year-old pitcher Masafumi Togano to Rakuten in exchange for 26-year-old pitcher Hideki Asai.

Asai's new number with the Giants will be 68.  Togano has yet to be assigned a new number.

Masafumi Tagano

Hideki Asai